Master This Classic Southern Candy in 6 Steps! (2024)

FAQs

Why won't my pralines get hard? ›

The simple answer is that there is too much moisture in your candy. One or more factors could be contributing to this problem. In hard candy making, it is important to cook all the water out of the sugar/corn syrup/water mixture.

Powdered sugar - adding powdered sugar really makes the pralines smooth and creamy and removes any graininess of the brown sugar.

Pecan pralines last up to three weeks. So it is better to consume the pecan pralines in the first two to three weeks after you make them. After three weeks, the pralines will not go bad but the sugar will begin to re-crystallize and so they will lose their delicious creaminess and will get a little harder to chew.

Pralines are cooked to the soft crack stage and should be semi-soft but not as chewy as soft toffee. The syrup used to make brittle, on the other hand, is cooked to a very high temperature until it reaches the hard crack stage, resulting in a much harder and "brittle" candy.

Always make candy on a cool, dry day. Because candy is made from sugar, and it pulls in moisture from the air, rain and humidity, the cooking time can increase substantially. It also may never set up at all -- the candy will absorb water from the air and turn into syrup.

When the weather is hot or humid, it may take longer for the candy to cool, or it can absorb excess moisture from the air, which might cause the sugar to crystallize or the texture to soften instead of becoming hard and crisp.

Why are there white spots on my pralines? The white spots are a natural process called crystallization. Because our pralines are made with NO preservatives, the white spots occur over time as the cooked sugar returns to its original crystal form.

Sometimes, as syrup boils, sugar starts to form back into crystals, which turn hard and cloudy. Crystallisation can be caused by stirring, or a grain of something other than sugar getting into the pan, or often just bad luck.

235° F–240° F

At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand. Fudge , pralines, and fondant are made by cooking ingredients to the soft-ball stage.

In New Orleans, Acadiana, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pralines are sometimes called "pecan candy".

Do I need to refrigerate pralines? ›

Allow the pralines to cool completely, then store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature, stored in a cool and dry place, for at least five days or longer.

Storage: These bourbon pecan pralines can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freezing: If sealed in an airtight container, they can also store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Making a large batch of these for the holidays is a must!

Just make sure you buy your nuts raw and not already roasted. The main reason for that is that we will cook the nuts in a pan for 10-15 min. If you do this with roasted nuts, they will end up being over-roasted and your praline will taste very bitter.

They never go “bad,” but after a week or so the sugar starts to crystalize and they lose the characteristic snap that you enjoy when biting them.

New Orleans Praline Recipe

Most recipes include a few traditional base ingredients: sugar, milk, butter and pecans. The New Orleans School of Cooking teaches guests to make a traditional praline. Whether in the French Quarter or in the comfort of your own home, you can use this recipe to make a batch of your own.

If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough.

The water evaporates, leaving sugar crystals behind. If even one sugar crystal falls back into the pan of cooking caramel, it starts a chain reaction of sugar crystals and the entire pan will harden.